Love Tangle 3
Tal
October 02, 2009, 10:53 AM posted in Transcripts with TalCurrently a work in progress, should be finished in a couple of days (at which time I'll bump this).
Tal
October 17, 2009, 12:27 AMThat one passed me by. Actually it looks like it passed on before I began studying Chinese, (which was in 2003).
A Chinese Coronation Street? A concept that manages to be both funny and scary at the same time!
Great quote here, (from a truncated article, sorry.)
THE man from Manchester knew he was out of his depth when someone mentioned eunuchs in a storyline meeting and no one else laughed.
Suddenly his theory about the soap opera being a universal language didn't seem so convincing.
More info here.
Tal
October 14, 2009, 10:19 PM哈哈！Sorry sebire, but as you say, here's your chance! ;)
Err... what's the other soap series?
sebire
October 15, 2009, 06:52 AMOh, the Zhang Liang and Lili series at intermediate. I'm thinking that my soap opera vocab is somewhat lacking at the moment!
Don't worry, Love Tangle 2 has a whole 10 seconds worth of transcript now. Only another 9+ minutes to go!
Tal
October 15, 2009, 07:24 AM加油，加油！ You can never get enough soap opera vocab, it's what life's all about right? 哈哈！
Hmm... I was once toying with transcribing a few of those Lili and Zhangliang podcasts, they do have some really useful and interesting language. And Intermediate ones seem to be received with more enthusiasm than UI after all. Perhaps when I'm done 'slacking' I'll get on the job!
sebire
October 15, 2009, 12:40 PMHaha, if "argh, I've just been pushed down a well and am drowning, help help, omg, my aunt is trying to murder me" is what life is all about...
I have an unhealthy addiction to bad Chinese soap operas. They're often so bad they're hilarious!
I think those old intermediates were quite hard, if I remember correctly.
Tal
October 15, 2009, 10:26 PM
Well, that sounds like the story of my life! Haven't seen my aunt in a while though. Maybe I should get a Chinese one, she can finish the job. 哈哈。
I wonder how Eastenders or Coronation Street would look through Chinese eyes/ears. 
You're right. I think Lili and Zhangliang might be worth transcribing. Hang on though, I'm not done slacking yet! 
sebire
October 16, 2009, 06:45 AMHehe, I don't watch Eastenders or Corrie, but I reckon the Chinese soaps are not dissimilar to Neighbours. Except people aren't having arranged marriages to enhance business links and Paul Robinson isn't a patch on some of the Chinese baddies!
I have to say though, the Chinese soaps that I've seen always have a moralising tone - I'm sure pop morality only turns up in Scrubs or particularly bad Desperate Housewives episosodes.
Tal
October 16, 2009, 08:34 AMI'd say pop morality is big in China. My wife is fond of the kind of show that shows the horrors wreaked on loving families by 狐狸精!
A recent one had the young villainess seducing not just the father (portrayed as a hapless innocent), but then the teenage son after the dad decided that he couldn't betray his 老婆 any longer!
Needless to say it all ended in tears in a hospital mental ward with the mom gone mad, the son having a nervous breakdown, and the dad committing suicide by jumping out of the window.
Ah, CPod lessons sadly can never match such exquisite drama. 哈哈！
RJ
October 16, 2009, 09:10 AMHi Tal,
When I read the China daily newspaper in China the police reports always take on the tone of a moral lesson. I imagine the Chinese language papers are worse. Does this really work? Are the people really that naive, or is the govt misguided in this approach? I find it quite entertaining.
I am disappointed to hear that you have such successful soaps in the UK. Maybe I should watch so I can understand the british mind :-) I love how Elsie is described as the tart with a heart. That should be interesting. I have always hated soaps though.
sebire
October 14, 2009, 08:56 PMHmm, no Love Tangle 2, tal? Stop slacking and get back to work! Haha, maybe I'll have a go, and look at 3 in a bit. I really ought to go back and do that other soap series.
matthiask
October 16, 2009, 09:22 AM_tal: thanks for your efforts. It's highly appreachiated.
Matthiask
RJ
October 16, 2009, 09:37 AMHi Matt
well that is way to complex to try and argue on a message board. There are plenty of moral people in the west but they dont get any press. I get your point. I just dont think its quite that simple. As for CNN - its more that they sensationalize, and the other part of that equation is the idiot that internalizes it in a bad way. I also find the sensationalizing of bad news and celebrity mis-steps disgusting. What celebrities do does not interest me at all.
btw is that a marriage outfit in your avatar?
Tal
October 16, 2009, 09:44 AMYo RJ,
I get the impression that Chinese people think it's right and proper to receive 'moral guidance' from TV drama and other media. But then (most) mainland Chinese seem to wholeheartedly approve of the way they are governed and the way the country is run. Internet censorship is generally considered to be necessary and right for example.
It will seem odd to us westerners I guess, because we grow up in a culture which idealises personal freedom, the right to choose, etc, and we scoff at being 'preached to' or told how we should live.
As to whether it 'works', I'd say it depends what you mean by 'works', lol. It creates a certain mindset, but I don't think it generally makes people more honest or virtuous.
Perhaps creation of the mindset and a moral 'self-image' is really what it's all about, that feeling of what's right and what's not.
Did you know that Chinese people generally think that westerners are quite sexually promiscuous? (Generally they'll use the euphemism 'broad-minded' - lol.) That's what comes from watching foreign TV!
PS. To be totally honest mate, I wouldn't in any version of the universe be caught dead watching Eastenders or Coronation Street, (you know I'm a Trekker right?!) But from a language learning point of view, the Chinese soaps are great. When they make you want to throw up, you know you're making progress with your Mandarin!
@matthiask - thanks very much for your feedback, I'm really glad to receive it!
RJ
October 16, 2009, 10:12 AMTal
Thanks. You have given me something to think about. And yes, thanks for the transcripts. Always useful.
bodawei
October 16, 2009, 10:14 AM@tal, RJ
My impression of Chinese people in their 20s for example (from a sample of about 140 in my various classes) is that they are more 'morality aware' than their Australian counterparts. They are always up for a discussion about the morality of this or that. Australian kids I know in this age group would tend to laugh at this 'pre-occupation' with morality. The Chinese also are willing to assert that they are a more moral society than the West. (That always brings to mind the 'brainwashing' someone mentioned.)
But what interests me is that I think 'morality' is culture determined - so what the Chinese think is moral is not exactly the same as what we think is moral. For example, the oft-quoted difference between virtue and truth - is it the case that Chinese people may be willing to sacrifice truth in the interests of virtuous behaviour (and perhaps not even consider it a 'sacrifice' - I have seen this through Western eyes)?
Any thoughts?
Tal
October 16, 2009, 12:20 PMHa! Not always! People can't bear too much of it!
silktown
October 16, 2009, 01:28 PMDid any of you in China notice 幸福街 xing fu jie - "Joy Luck Street" on Chinese TV? This soap-opera was a Chinese collaboration with Granada TV, makers of Coronation Street.
50 幸福街 episodes were shown, about 7 yrs ago, then it died, I think.
Interesting discussion of the "cultural friction" between Chinese and British, here. Producers' and audiences' expectations clashed. "Morality" was a problem.
matthiask
October 16, 2009, 09:22 AMHi rjberki,
hmmm. Isn't that exactly what western countries are missing? Moral - and moral standards? <irony>Wait, I guess we would call this brain washing.
It's so much better that CNN and heroize the murderers and terrorists of the world. </irony>
<sad truth>In Germany, some kids are admiring the guys who are running amok in a school - because they make it on the title pages of the yellow press - just like stars. </sad truth>
Tal
October 11, 2009, 02:15 AMWell, hang out the flags, I finally finished this off!
If anyone out there still cares about these efforts of mine do please nitpick me and help me correct any mistakes.
This transcript is for this lesson by the way.
Feedback welcome.